Testimony issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "The testimony discusses debt collection efforts by two major components at the Department of Agriculture--the Rural Housing Service (RHS) and the Farm Service Agency (FSA). The Debt Collection Improvement Act of 1996 requires agencies to (1) notify the Department of the Treasury of debts more than 180 days delinquent for the purposes of administrative offset against any amounts that might otherwise be due and (2) refer such debts to Treasury for centralized collection. To facilitate collection, agencies can administratively garnish the wages of delinquent debtors throughout government. GAO found that agencies are excluding most reported debt more than 180 days delinquent from referral requirements. To more fully realize the benefits of debt collection, agencies need to improve their implementation of the act. The Financial Management Service is making steady progress in collecting delinquent federal non-tax debt through the Treasury Offset Program--a mandatory governmentwide debt collection program that compares delinquent debtor debt to federal payment data. Agriculture and other agencies still have not used administrative wage garnishment to collect delinquent non-tax debt even though experts have testified that it can be an extremely powerful tool for debt collection. If …

Correspondence issued by the General Accounting Office with an abstract that begins "This report compares prices for prescription drugs purchased using drug discount cards with prices available at local pharmacies or over the Internet. Using a list of 17 widely prescribed drugs, GAO documents prices from (1) five companies that administer large drug discount card programs, (2) five Internet pharmacies, and (3) several retail pharmacies in four different areas."

Weekly student newspaper from the University of Dallas in Irving, Texas that includes campus news and commentaries along with advertising.

Deposit summary of $480.00 made on December 5, 2001.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Clifton, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

Semi-weekly newspaper from Seminole, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with extensive advertising.

Retardation of nuclear contaminants in rock matrices can lead to long retention times, allowing substantial radionuclide decay prior to eventual release. Imbibition and diffusion into the rock matrix can move contaminants away from an active fracture, thereby contributing to their retardation. However, diffusive transport in some rocks may behave anomalously because of their sparsely connected porespace, in contrast to diffusion in rocks with denser pore connections. We examined imbibition of weakly sorbing tracers into welded tuff and Indiana sandstone, and water imbibition into metagraywacke and Berea sandstone. Tuff samples were initially equilibrated to 12% and 76% water (v/v) within controlled humidity chambers, while the other rocks were air-dried. For imbibition, one face was exposed to water, with or without tracer, and uptake was measured over time. Following imbibition, tracer concentration measurements were made at fine (1 mm) increments. Three anomalous results were observed: (1) Indiana sandstone and metagraywacke showed mass of imbibed water scaling as time{sup 0.26}, while tuff and Berea sandstone showed the more classical scaling with time{sup 0.05}; (2) tracer movement into dry (2% initial saturation) Indiana sandstone showed a dispersion pattern similar to that expected during tracer movement into moist (76% initial saturation) tuft and (3) tracer …

The purpose of this study was to do an initial estimate of the potential for energy savings in the state of Iowa. Several methods for determining savings were examined, including existing programs, surveys, savings calculators, and economic simulation. Each method has advantages and disadvantages, trading off between detail of information, accuracy of results, and scope. This paper concentrated on using economic simulation (the NEMS model (EIA 2000a)) to determine market potential for energy savings for the residential and commercial sectors. The results of surveys were used to calculate the economic potential for savings in the industrial sector. The NEMS model is used by the Energy Information Administration to calculate twenty-year projections of energy use for every region of the country. The results of the Annual Energy Outlook 2000 were used as the Base case (EIA 1999a). Two alternative cases were created to simulate energy savings policies. Voluntary, market-related programs were simulated by lowering the effective discount rates that end-users use when making decisions on equipment purchases. Standards programs in the residential sector were simulated by eliminating the availability of low efficiency equipment in future years. The parameters for these programs were based on the Moderate scenario from the DOE Clean …

The Princeton Plasma Physics Laboratory (PPPL) and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are preparing an experiment of current profile control using lower-hybrid waves in order to produce and sustain advanced tokamak regimes in steady-state conditions in Alcator C-Mod. Unlike JET's, ToreSupra's and JT60's couplers, the C-Mod lower-hybrid coupler does not employ the now conventional multijunction design, but will have similar characteristics, compactness, and internal power division while retaining full control of the antenna element phasing. This is achieved by using 3 dB vertical power splitters and a stack of laminated plates with the waveguides milled in them. Construction is simplified and allows easy control and maintenance of all parts. Many precautions are taken to avoid arcing. Special care is also taken to avoid the recycling of reflected power which could affect the coupling and the launched n(subscript ||) spectrum. The results from C-Mod should allow further simplification in the designs of the coupler planned for KSTAR (Korea Superconducting Tokamak Advanced Research) and ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor).

Building upon the 1999 AD Little Study, an expanded market analysis was performed by GE Power Systems in 2001 to quantify the potential demand for an NGGT product. This analysis concluded that improvements to the US energy situation might be best served in the near/mid term (2002-2009) by a ''Technology-Focused'' program rather than a specific ''Product-Focused'' program. Within this new program focus, GEPS performed a parametric screening study of options in the three broad candidate categories of gas turbines: aero-derivative, heavy duty, and a potential hybrid combining components of the other two categories. GEPS's goal was to determine the best candidate systems that could achieve the DOE PRDA expectations and GEPS's internal design criteria in the period specified for initial product introduction, circa 2005. Performance feasibility studies were conducted on candidate systems selected in the screening task, and critical technology areas were identified where further development would be required to meet the program goals. DOE PRDA operating parameters were found to be achievable by 2005 through evolutionary technology. As a result, the study was re-directed toward technology enhancements for interim product introductions and advanced/revolutionary technology for potential NGGT product configurations. Candidate technologies were identified, both evolutionary and revolutionary, with a …

Although bulk silicon is not known to exhibit susceptibility to cyclic fatigue, micron-scale structures made from silicon films are known to be vulnerable to degradation by fatigue in ambient air environments, a phenomenon that has been recently modeled in terms of a mechanism of sequential oxidation and stress-corrosion cracking of the native oxide layer.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Industrial Technologies, Mining Industry of the Future Program, works with the mining industry to further the industry's advances toward environmental and economic goals. Two of these goals are (1) responsible emission and by-product management and (2) low-cost and efficient production (DOE 1998). DOE formed an alliance with the National Mining Association (NMA) to strengthen the basis for research projects conducted to benefit the mining industry. NMA and industry representatives actively participate in this alliance by evaluating project proposals and by recommending research project selection to DOE. Similarly, the National Research Council (NRC) has recently and independently recommended research and technology development opportunities in the mining industry (NRC 2001). The Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and Colorado School of Mines engineers conducted one such project for DOE regarding by -product recovery from mining process residue. The results of this project include this report on mining industry process residue and waste with opportunity for by-product recovery. The U.S. mineral processing industry produces over 30,000,000 metric tons per year of process residue and waste that may contain hazardous species as well as valuable by-products. This study evaluates the copper, lead, and zinc commodity sectors which …

The use of ITS-generated data as a data resource is a multifaceted challenge. The most effective way of confronting this challenge is to focus early efforts on localized areas with well-defined parameters. With the idea of starting with a well-defined problem, this research demonstrates the feasibility of using ITS-generated data to meet traffic information needs. Specifically, this study focused on two crucial traffic parameters: (1) total traffic volume, and (2) total VMT--basically, the information collected from the Traffic Monitoring Program. Traffic data collected from Florida and New York ITS deployments were used to test the communications and estimation procedures.

The transport, flow shear, and linear growth rates of microturbulence are studied for a Joint European Torus (JET) plasma with high central q in which an internal transport barrier (ITB) forms and grows to a large radius. The linear microturbulence growth rates of the fastest growing (most unstable) toroidal modes with high toroidal mode number are calculated using the GS2 and FULL gyrokinetic codes. These linear growth rates, gamma (subscript lin) are large, but the flow-shearing rates, gamma (subscript ExB) (dominated by the toroidal rotation contribution) are also comparably large when and where the ITB exists.

A field test of an aerosol-spray duct-sealing technology and a conventional, best-practice approach was performed in 80 homes to determine the efficacy and programmatic needs of the duct-sealing technologies as applied in the U.S. Department of Energy Weatherization Assistance Program. The field test was performed in five states: Iowa, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, and Wyoming. The study found that, compared with the best-practice approach, the aerosol-spray technology is 50% more effective at sealing duct leaks and can potentially reduce labor time and costs for duct sealing by 70%, or almost 4 crew-hours. Further study to encourage and promote use of the aerosol-spray technology within the Weatherization Assistance Program is recommended. A pilot test of full production weatherization programs using the aerosol-spray technology is recommended to develop approaches for integrating this technology with other energy conservation measures and minimizing impacts on weatherization agency logistics. In order to allow or improve adoption of the aerosol spray technology within the Weatherization Assistance Program, issues must be addressed concerning equipment costs, use of the technology under franchise arrangements with Aeroseal, Inc. (the holders of an exclusive license to use this technology), software used to control the equipment, safety, and training. Application testing of the …

Policymakers rely on transportation statistics, including data on personal travel behavior, to formulate strategic transportation policies and to improve the safety and efficiency of the U.S. transportation system. Data on personal travel trends are needed to examine the reliability, efficiency, capacity, and flexibility of the Nation's transportation system to meet current demands and accommodate future demands; to assess the feasibility and efficiency of alternative congestion-alleviating technologies (e.g., high-speed rail, magnetically levitated trains, intelligent vehicle and highway systems); to evaluate the merits of alternative transportation investment programs; and to assess the energy-use and air-quality impacts of various policies. To address these data needs, the Department of Transportation (DOT) initiated an effort in 1969 to collect detailed data on personal travel. The 1969 survey was the first Nationwide Personal Transportation Survey (NPTS). The survey was conducted again in 1977, 1983, 1990, and 1995. The 1995 survey was cosponsored by four DOT agencies: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), Federal Transit Administration (FTA), and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). The primary objective of the survey was to collect trip-based data on the nature and characteristics of personal travel. Commercial and institutional travel were not part of the survey.

One potentially large source of underutilized distributed generation (DG) capacity exists in single-phase standby backup gensets on farms served from single-phase feeder laterals. Utilizing the excess capacity would require interconnecting to the utility system. Connecting single-phase gensets to the utility system presents some interesting technical issues that have not been previously investigated. This paper addresses several of the interconnection issues associated with this form of DG including voltage regulation, harmonics, overcurrent protection, and islanding. A significant amount of single-phase DG can be accommodated by the utility distribution system, but there are definite limitations due to the nature and location of the DG. These limitations may be more restrictive than is commonly assumed for three-phase DG installed on stronger parts of the electric distribution system.

Weekly newspaper from Yoakum, Texas that includes local, state, and national news along with advertising.

The D0 Run2b stave structure has been tested to determine the pressure drop along the cooling line and suggest a possible cooling pipe size. The measured pressure drop, charted versus the flow rate, shows good agreement with what is theoretically predicted, the latter underestimating the experimental data in the worst case with a 5.5% error. At a fixed flow rate of 175-ml/min and bulk temperature of -15 C, a cooling pipe formed from a 0.158 inch (4.0mm) ID tube would meet the 3.0 psi target pressure drop. With the same piping and a bulk temperature of -10 C the pressure drop is around 2.3 psi.

High power laser pulses can produce damage in high quality fused silica optics that can lead to its eventual obscuration and failure. Current models suggest the initiation of a plasma detonation due to absorbing initiators and defects, leading to the formation of shock waves. Recent experiments have found a densified layer at the bottom of damage sites, as evidence of the laser-damage model. We have studied the propagation of shock waves through fused silica using molecular dynamics. These simulations show drastic modifications in the structure and topology of the network, in agreement with experimental observations.

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Transcript of an oral interview with John W. Finn. Finn grew up in California and joined the Navy in 1926. He went through training. By 1941, he has been made Chief Petty Officer and is in the BP-14 squadron. This squadron arrived in Kaneohe Bay on the USS Enterprise in May 1941. Finn has become the Chief Ordnance and Bombsight man. He describes the Japanese bombing Kaneohe Bay just before Pearl Harbor. He took a gun outside and is exposed to Japanese strafing while he fires at the airplanes. He received the Medal of Honor for his efforts.

The National Museum of the Pacific War presents an oral interview with Robert Chaffin. Chaffin was born on 30 March 1922 in Spring Valley, Texas. After graduating from high school in 1940 he worked for the National Youth Administration as an aircraft mechanic trainee. He joined the US Navy and had two weeks of boot camp at Corpus Christi Naval Air Station (NAS), Texas. Upon completing boot training he was sent to the Beeville NAS, Texas. In 1943 he was assigned to United States. Navy. Carrier Air Service Unit 1 (CASU-1) and reported to the Ford Island NAS at Pearl Harbor. During February 1944 he went aboard the USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) in time to deliver of planes to the Marshall Islands. On 2 May 1944, he went aboard the USS Essex (CV-9) as a member of the ship’s crew. He describes characteristics of the various planes he worked on aboard ship and also explains the procedures followed to determine whether a damaged plane was to be repaired or destroyed. On 25, November 1944, the Essex was struck by a kamikaze and Chaffin was severely wounded. After the ship arrived at Ulithi for repairs, he was transferred to the USS …

Student newspaper of the University of Oklahoma in Norman, Oklahoma that includes national, local, and campus news along with advertising.